Steve was sitting on the front porch steps of my house when I got home that evening. Which surprised me because he hadn't talked to Soda all day and made it pretty clear that morning that he wasn't going to talk to me either. And even if he wasn't speaking to me, why would he be waiting for me to get home?
"Hey." I said carefully, standing about five feet away from him even though it was my house.
Steve just looked at me. I was relieved to see that he wasn't giving me the angry glare, but it wasn't a welcoming look either. He didn't say anything. Just sat there, smoking a cigarette.
"Look, Soda wanted to show you the draft notice. He didn't want you to find out the way you did." I said, still staying at a distance from him.
"Why didn't he show me it last night, too, Chris?" Steve finally replied after a few minutes of silence.
I sighed. "I guess both of us figured it was better to wait till this morning. You had a lot on your mind last night. We weren't sure if you'd be able to handle all the information from Aaron and Jeff, plus the news of Soda leaving in the same night. You know Soda wouldn't want to hurt you. He wanted to tell you."
"You know, the war is no place for people like Soda. Sure, he can fight good in a rumble. But a war is different. It could distroy him, Chris." Steve said.
"But you wish you could go, right?" I asked remembering what Soda had said the night before.
Steve nodded. "I've been hoping to get drafted. I know it sounds crazy to actually want to go, but I have nothing here in Tulsa. Soda has Darry and Ponyboy."
I sat down next to him. "Steve, you do have something here in Tulsa. You have us. You have the whole gang."
Steve gave me a half grin. "And maybe even that Jesus guy?"
"You made the decision?" I asked.
"No, I'm still thinking about it. I still don't understand the whole thing. Do you?" Steve looked at me through his curly hair.
"Not really." I admitted. "But I guess sometimes you have to take the chance."
"I guess you're right. However, I'm still not ready to make the commitment. I want to know if this thing is real, you dig?"
"Yeah, I dig." I said.
We sat there for a while in silence not saying anything. The sun was starting to set. Ponyboy and I often watch sun sets together. It was strange watching one with Steve. Although I wasn't sure if he was really watching it. It seemed more to me like he was thinking instead.
"Hey, Chris?"
"Yeah?" I asked facing him.
"I know this may sound crazy, but, can I go to church with you tomorrow? I'm off till the evening and I want to talk to Jeff." Steve was looking at me like he was expecting me to say no to him. The way he had often said no to me and Ponyboy.
"Sounds good to me. I was hoping for some company. Soda, as you know has to work and Pony said he had promised to help Darry with something." I replied. "And I'm not sure I want to know what Two-Bit will be doing. Although he did say he'd try to go to the youth service next week."
Steve rolled his eyes. "I know. He told me he went to Buck's last night. Anyway, I'm going to head over to Soda's. I'd invite you to come too, but I know you just got back from there."
I nodded as Steve stood up and crossed the lawn towards his house. A minute later, I was watching him drive down the street in his car. I knew he wasn't ready to accept that Jesus could be what we were searching for, but I also knew he wasn't totally closed to the idea either. He just needed to know more. Just like Soda and I needed to know more.